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CrizLacuna Coil - United States

Overview

There is no better indication that greatness can be achieved through a resilient work ethic than Lacuna Coil, whose aggressive touring and extensive critical praise have now poised them for mainstream domination. The group initially left their mark on the hard rock scene in 2004 with their acclaimed album, Comalies, which opened several opportunities for them that were previously thought unattainable for an Italian band, such as two highly successful commercial radio campaigns alongside a breakthrough Ozzfest appearance resulting in over 500,000 copies sold worldwide with a quarter of a million in the U.S. alone. Now, Lacuna Coil returns with their highly anticipated new album, Karmacode, which is another huge step forward in the band's continuous evolution. It has been years since an artist came along that could redefine a genre, but this group has the potential to do just that. This is the next big thing.

Upholding the emotive yin-yang tradition of vocal interplay between the dulcet tones of Cristina Scabbia and the scorching vocals of her male singing partner Andrea Ferro, Karmacode sees Lacuna Coil realize the potential at which Comalies hinted, but their evolution is both sonic and spiritual. "If there were an actual translation of Karmacode," says Ferro, "it would be something like, 'Spiritual DNA and the message behind it.' The title attempts to balance our modern, overwhelming, self-centered, fast-paced lifestyles and the desire we all have to lead a more spiritual, compassionate and fulfilling life."

The American breakthrough for Lacuna Coil -- whose moniker translates to "empty spiral" in English, betraying the rich versatility of their music -- began with 2001's Unleashed Memories, an album that merited a special mention in Billboard magazine's Hard Music Spotlight. That same year, their first U.S. tour left audiences mesmerized by what Metal Maniacs described as "intoxicating" live performances.

Still, the runaway success of 2002's Comalies was the foundation on which the band's success was built. The album was praised by the likes of Entertainment Weekly, Revolver, Rolling Stone, Stuff and virtually every hard rock/metal publication of note. Soon after the album's release, the group's profile grew tenfold thanks to aggressive touring with the likes of P.O.D., Opeth, Anthrax, Type O Negative and Danzig. With the success of the album's first single, "Heaven's A Lie," Billboard called the band "one of the larger success stories in metal," as MTV2 and Fuse put the track's video into heavy rotation and the song itself graced commercial radio airwaves across the country and planted itself within the R&R Active Rock Top 30 Chart. Prominent Boston station WAAF led the charge, inviting Lacuna Coil to appear at its annual Locobazooka festival (alongside such major acts as Staind and Sevendust) in addition to performing acoustically on the air.

In early 2004, Lacuna Coil's successes were validated with an invitation to participate in that year's Ozzfest, supporting such metal stalwarts as Judas Priest, Slayer and Ozzy himself. Lacuna Coil offered something unique to the package that ultimately struck a chord with fans, resulting in their being hailed as the year's breakthrough artist. Over the course of the massive two-month trek, the group also SoundScanned more units per week than any other band on the bill second only to the platinum-selling artist Slipknot. The radio success of "Heaven's A Lie" waned only as the popularity of the second single, "Swamped" increased at Active Rock and even found its way on to more than a dozen Alternative stations as well.

Lacuna Coil spent the summer of 2005 performing at some of Europe's premier festivals alongside such household names as Green Day, Incubus and System Of A Down while completing the songwriting process for Karmacode. The highly anticipated new effort was produced by Sorychta and Lacuna Coil in Germany and Italy, while the album was both mixed by Ronald Prent (Rammstein, H.I.M., Iron Maiden) and mastered by Darcy Proper (Steely Dan, Porcupine Tree, R.E.M.) at Galaxy Studios in Belgium. Asterik Studio (Trapt, Funeral For A Friend, The Used), the Grammy-nominated design firm, handled the package design. This offering begins where Comalies left off, and it will further solidify their spot as one of the genre's most dynamic and exhilarating artists.

The group kicked off the album's extensive touring cycle with a high profile, sold-out six-week U.S. trek as direct support to Rob Zombie, which was capped off with a performance on ABC-TV's Jimmy Kimmel Live! The summer of 2006 was spent on the main stage of Ozzfest playing alongside such acclaimed acts as System Of A Down, Disturbed and Avenged Sevenfold, as Scabbia became the first female vocalist to grace the fest's main stage in a decade. LACUNA COIL also scored a Top 30 Active Rock hit single with the track "Our Truth" in addition to being featured on the covers of such esteemed publications as Revolver, Metal Edge, Outburn and Decibel, among a slew of others. Following a European headlining tour, they closed out the year with a number of dates alongside Danzig and In Flames, which coincided with the launch of the Karmacode's third single, "Closer."

From all indications, it looks as if 2007 will be LACUNA COIL's most successful year to date as they prepare to embark on a massive Jagermeister tour this spring as direct support to Stone Sour. The tour also features Shadows Fall and looks to be one of the year's defining packages.

With four full-length albums and two EPs now to their credit, LACUNA COIL have ensured that each offering further enunciates the subtle, solemn beauty they create. Karmacode takes that a step further, seeing them further mature as musicians and songwriters to deliver their most cohesive, career-defining album. If karma has anything to do with it, Italy's most successful rock export will not have to wait long for the entire mainstream world to take notice.

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